What are you reading tonight?

[Bruce Rioja]

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/23/opini ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Oh dear (thanks, btw). Uncalled for? Yes. Offensive? Possibly, but seriously, this is like when they got upset because Sergio Garcia said he'd invite Tiger Woods round for fried chicken. Point out the error of the perpetrator's comments and move on.

[Prufrock]

I do think they're subtly different, though I don't disagree with the gist above.

From what I remember at the time, which may be wrong, Garcia and Woods had fallen out and it was a dig from Garcia. I thought it was out of order and I think people were entitled to be offended. There has to be some proportionality about it though. "Entitled to be offended" doesn't mean entitled to ruin the perpetrator's life, or have him dropped from contracts or made to publicly grovel and cry for the attention of you, the offendee, though. People reacted like it was the worst thing ever and went nuts. IIRC there were calls for his sponsors to drop him and all sorts of ludicrous things. IMO the proper response would be not far from what you've described up there^: if you're offended, slag him off to your mates, have a debate about it in public, accept with grace the inevitable apology, and move on.

With Penn, there's not even any malice or spite! They're friends and tease each other all the time, apparently. There's an argument it's crass in front of the cameras but I just don't believe anybody watching it genuinely thought there was any malice or anything other than a joke between friends. This isn't even one for pointing out the errors. The perpetually offended need to grow the feck up. In all these articles whinging about it, the cause they claim to care about is reduced to a footnote. If they hadn't wasted everyone's time with their squeals of offence, they could have used the space to properly report Iñárritu's acceptance speech in which he apparently highlighted the issue. How did he highlight it? We don't know, coz some tool's just splurged 500 words of offence about a joke.

I read a Facebook post recently by a girl I get on well with, who I probably agree with on 9 individual issues out of 10, but this post showed a completely different worldview. It was about one of these outrages du jour and how it doesn't matter what people "mean" but it matters how it comes across and how everyone should try to consider how what they say might be interpreted by anyone who might hear it. How devoid of joy, wit and humour would that world be?! By all means try to avoid offending people where possible or for the sake of it, but you can't proofread every thought or idea.

These people aren't even offended. They manufacture offence as a way of pushing their worldview to the top of the agenda and silencing opposition. It's depressing that it's often my "team" too. A lot of the time I agree with their "end" point, but the way you put it forward is to debate people, not hound them on Twitter. There seem to be plenty folk out there who'd describe themselves as 'liberal' who don't know the meaning of the word.

[Beefheart]

I read a Facebook post recently by a girl I get on well with, who I probably agree with on 9 individual issues out of 10, but this post showed a completely different worldview. It was about one of these outrages du jour and how it doesn't matter what people "mean" but it matters how it comes across and how everyone should try to consider how what they say might be interpreted by anyone who might hear it. How devoid of joy, wit and humour would that world be?! By all means try to avoid offending people where possible or for the sake of it, but you can't proofread every thought or idea.
.

How far does that position extend? What about song lyrics or poetry? If you write something ambiguous or even nonsensical you have to be wary that some people might interpret that in a way that they might find offensive? Who the feck is the arbiter in this situation?

[Prufrock]

That's basically the gist of what she was saying. It'd be impossible even if it wasn't stupid.

[Lord Kangana]

Two brilliant articles I've seen over the last couple of days on our political culture:

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/brendan-on ... rcissists/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.frankieboyle.com/frankie/free-speech.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes, yes, that's all well and good, but lets be honest here. Twitter is the playground of monumental f*ckwits, and to actually receive, read, and even remotely give credence to 5000 tweets, let alone write a bloody article about them, shows how low the quality of the debate has sunk (sunken, sunkenest?).

If you don't want to read offensive tweets, don't go on f*cking Twitter. And please don't write articles about f*cking twitter. It only gives a voice to it, when it should just disappear up its own giant arsehole. Its depressing.

[KeyserSoze]

Two brilliant articles I've seen over the last couple of days on our political culture:

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/brendan-on ... rcissists/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.frankieboyle.com/frankie/free-speech.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes, yes, that's all well and good, but lets be honest here. Twitter is the playground of monumental f*ckwits, and to actually receive, read, and even remotely give credence to 5000 tweets, let alone write a bloody article about them, shows how low the quality of the debate has sunk (sunken, sunkenest?).

If you don't want to read offensive tweets, don't go on f*cking Twitter. And please don't write articles about f*cking twitter. It only gives a voice to it, when it should just disappear up its own giant arsehole. Its depressing.

But it's actually having real world impacts, isn't it? As evidence with the jon ronson articles linked in this very thread.

[Lord Kangana]

The right thread this time I think.

All I can add is that there are balloons on here, and other sites, who would judge SKD's career with us on the content of his wife's random brainfarts on her Twitter account. I'm not sure how it adds to any debate in any meaningful way.

[Worthy4England]

The right thread this time I think.

All I can add is that there are balloons on here, and other sites, who would judge SKD's career with us on the content of his wife's random brainfarts on her Twitter account. I'm not sure how it adds to any debate in any meaningful way.

Pfft. How can we burn them, unless you tell us who they are?

[Prufrock]

Oddly enough was catching up on LRB reading last night and came across this, which I thought was fascinating, and sorta linked:

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n01/andrew-oha ... onald-pinn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Harry Genshaw]

Just finished 'Dear boy' a mahoosive book on Keith Moon. Took me ages to read it. Obviously, I'd heard many of the stories but since I was so young when he died I didn't know a great deal on him. Having read this, I can say with certainty - he was a complete cock

[General Mannerheim]

Read No Country For Old Men in PB time for me. Real page turner in the true sense. Mesmerising.

All the Pretty Horses and The Road just been ordered...

[Raven]

The Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, absolutely fantastic, full details here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hundred-Year-Ol ... the+window" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Can't stop laughing at it

[General Mannerheim]

looks good does that, bought a used copy 32p.

[Bruce Rioja]

Bruce Robinson's quite brilliant 'The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman'

[thebish]

The Hundred Year Old Man who Climbed of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, absolutely fantastic, full details here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hundred-Year-Ol ... the+window" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Can't stop laughing at it

y'know - someone was just telling me about that this very morning!

[thebish]

Oddly enough was catching up on LRB reading last night and came across this, which I thought was fascinating, and sorta linked:

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n01/andrew-oha ... onald-pinn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

if you find that fascinating - you're doing the rest wrong!

[Raven]

Just finished the 100 year old man one and was fantastic from begging to end, so got his second offering - The Girl who saved the king of Sweden.

[Bruce Rioja]

I see that a TV adaptation of Danny Baker's (quite excellent IMO) book is coming out with Peter Kay playing DB's dad (Spud).

[General Mannerheim]

sure is an excellent read - have you done the follow up yet?

[Bruce Rioja]

sure is an excellent read - have you done the follow up yet?

Just ordered it yesterday. Have you read it yet?